Clothes drier



Aug. 29, 1944.

W. E. HORSTKOTTE CLOTHES DRIER Filed Nov. 4, 1945 llllll" .1 z w v E; \V

8 w /K f. m w 5 m w W Snnentor in depending position.

' Patented Aug. 29,- 1944 UNITED PAT-ENT ZOZFEF ICE GLClTHES DRIER IWilliam Horstkotte, Spokane, Wash. A plication-November 4.194s, Serial'No. 508,964

'5'Claims.

This invention relates to a clothes drier .and it is one object'of theinvention to provide'a drier adapted for use indoors and having amainframe disposed upright and rackscarried by themain frame and adaptedto be supported in :an extended position for use at sides of the frame,the racks being foldable to a collapsed position close to sides of theframe when not in use.

Another object of the invention is to provide the frame with upper andlower racks pivotally mounted to opposite sides thereof and havingsupporting legs mounted for swinging movement from a raised or foldedposition toa depending position in which they support the racks, the

legs of'the upper racks constituting means for releasably securing thelegs of the lower tracks Another object'of the invention is to providethe upper racks with additional'supporting members and thus permit theupper'racks to be supported in a raised position while the lower racksare folded.

Another object of the invention is to :so form ing the racks to theframe and permit the racks 'tobe raised and lowered.

upper ends of the corner posts and the feet 'z are braced againstmovementtowardeach other by a bar 5. It willthus be seen .that' theframeis formed of postsand bars which are firmly se- Y opposite sides'ofthe main frame andeach has Another object of the invention'isto-rprovide I improved .brackets for pivotally connecting the :legsof the lower racks with sidebars of'the racks,

'legs of the'lower' racks'extended for use.

Another object of the invention'is to provide :a clothes drier which isof light weight but'strong and not liable to collapse .when in use.

,The invention 'is.illustratedin the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the improved clothes drier with itsracks extended and supported in position for use.

Fig. 2 i a fragmentary sectional view on an enlarged scale, on the line2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the brackets for pivotallyconnecting legs of the lower racks with the racks.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view on theline 4-4 of Fig. 1.

This clothes drier has a main frame provided with corner posts oruprights I which have their lower ends secured to base members or feet 2and are maintained in spaced parallel relation to each other by upperand lower cross bars 3. Bracing bars 4 extend longitudinally of theframe between end bars 8 between which are mounted a plurality oflongitudinally extendingrods 9. Referring to Fig. v4, itwill be seenthat the-inner rod of each rack projects outwardly from its end 'bars,the projecting end. portions of the inner rods con stituting pivots 9which pass through openings inthe cross bars 3 of the frame andpivotally mount the racks for vertical swinging movement from a loweredposition close to sides of the frame to a raised or extended positionfor use. Spacers ID are employed to hold the side bars of the racksspaced from the cross bars 3 and allow the racks to be easily swung tofolded or extended position.

In order to support the racks inraised or. extended position for use,the lower racks have been provided with legs II and the upper racks withcorresponding legs I2. The legs are carried by end bars of the racks andeach is pivotallymounted for swinging movement longitudinally of therack supported thereby by hinge brackets l3 which are secured againstunder faces of the end bars bypins M which may be bolts or rivets. Thebrackets are disposed at opposite sides of the legs and connectedtherewith by pivotpins l5 which may be boltsor rivets. Between theirhinge brackets l3, the lower legs carry latchingbracketsor keepers I Bwhich extend longitudinally of the legs and are firmly secured therebyby the pins 15 and by additional pins l'l, the'pin l5 and I1 passingthrough ears I8 which project inwardly from opposite sides of thekeepers against opposite side faces of the legs. Each keeper has itsupper end formed with a bill I9 which extends across the upper face ofthe end bar 8 to which the leg is connected and each bill is formed withan opening 20 registering with a socket 2| formed in the end bar so thatthe corresponding leg l2 of the upper rack may have its lower endengaged in the alined opening and socket as shown in Fig. 2. By thisarrangement, the legs of the upper racks serve as fasteners for securingthe legs of the lower racks in position to support the lower racksextended and, likewise, the legs of the upper racks are secured inposition to sup port the upper racks extended. When it is desired tofold the racks to a collapsed position against sides of the main frame,it is merely necessary to raise the upper racks slightly and withdrawlower ends of their legs from the openings 20 and the sockets 2|. Thelegs are then swung upwardly under the rack and rings or loops 22 slidalong the rods carrying the rings until they are engaged about the legs.The racks may then be lowered to a folded position against sides of themain frame. In order that the upper racks may be raised to an extendedposition for use without raising the lower racks, there have beenprovided break-joint brackets or braces 23 which are moved to extendedposition for supporting the upper racks as the-upper racks are swungupwardly into position for use. It will thus be seen that either theupper racks. or the lower racks may be used without it being necessaryto raise both the-upper racks and the lower racks.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A clothes drier comprising a main frame, upper and lower racks atopposite sides of said frame pivotally mounted for swinging movementfrom lowered folded position against the frame to a raised position inwhich they extend horizontally from the frame for use, supporting legsfor the upper and lower racks and pivotally mounted adjacent the outerends of the racks for swinging movement from folded position against theracks to depending position for supporting the racks, and keeperscarried by the lower legs and engageable by means of openings with theupper legs to releasably hold both the upper legs and the lower legsextended for use.

2. A clothes drier comprising a main frame,

upper and lower racks at opposite sides of said frame pivotally mountedfor swinging movement from lowered folded position against the frame toraised position in which they extend horizontally from the frame foruse, supporting legs for the upper and lower racks and pivotally mountedat the outer ends of the racks for swinging movement from foldedposition against the racks to depending position for supporting theracks, and means for effecting interlocking engagement between companionupper and lower legs and releasably holding both in depending positionfor use.

3. A clothes drier comprising a frame, upper and lower racks having endbars at a side of said frame pivotally mounted for vertical swingingfrom a lowered collapsed position to a raised position in which theyextend horizontally from the frame, legs pivoted to said racks adjacentthe legs of the lower rack in alinement therewith when the legs arelowered, keepers carried by the lower legs and extending from the upperends thereof and provided with lips for overlapping ends of the lowerracks when the lower legs are lowered, the end bars of the lower rackbeing formed with'sockets, and the lips being formed with openingsalining with the sockets whereby lower ends of the upper legs may beengaged with the alined openings and sockets and companion upper andlower legs releasably held extended in position for use.

4. A clothes drier comprising a frame having uprights and cross barsmounted between the uprights, upper and lower racks at a side of theframe having end bars and rods extending between the end bars, saidracks being pivotally mounted for vertical swinging movement to raisedand lowered positions, supporting legs for said racks, brackets carriedby said end bars near the outer ends and pivotally mounting the legs forswinging longitudinally of the racks to raised and lowered positions,loops slidable along rods of said racks for engagin about the legs andreleasably holding the legs raised, and latching members carried by thelower legs for engagement with the upper legs to releasably holdtheupper and lower legs in lowered position for use.

5. A clothes drier comprising a frame having uprights and cross barsmounted between the uprights, upper and lower racks at a side of theframe having end bars and rods extending between the end bars, saidracks being pivotally mounted for vertical swingingmovement to raisedand lowered positions, supporting legs for said racks, brackets carriedby said end bars near the outer ends and extending downwardly therefrom,the brackets carried by each end bar being spaced from each otherlongitudinally thereof, pivot pins passing through the legs and thebrackets, a

keeper fitting against the outer side face of each leg of the lowerrack' and having ears at its side edges overlapping the leg and formedwith openings through which the pivot pin for the leg passes, a fastenerpassing through the leg and the ears for hOldiIlg the keeper firmly inplace with a, portion projecting from the upper end of the leg andformed with a lip for overlapping the end bar of the rack beneath whichthe leg is pivotally mounted, the end bars of the lower rack beingformed with sockets and the lips of the keepers being formed withopenings for registering with the sockets when the lower racks are inposition for use whereby the upper legs may have their lower endsengaged in registering openings and sockets, and releasably hold theupper and lower legs in lowered position.

WILLIAM E. HORSTKOT'I'E.

